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WILLIAM B. LODGE AND' HIRAM PLATNER, or DANBURY, CONNECTICUT. LettersPatent No. 71,516, elated November 26, 1867.

IMPROlTEMENT IN FELTING-MAGHINES.

@its Sttstnle referat tuin ttm Wim atntmrt mating putt nf the 'samt l'T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM B. Lonen and HIRAM PLATNER, both ofDanbury, in the county of Fareld, and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a now and useful Improvement in Felting-Machines, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto thc accompanying drawing, forming part 'of this specification, and inwhich,-

Figure -1 represents a plan of"a machine constructed according to ourimprovement, and

Figure 2 a vertical section of the-same.

Figure 3 is a diagram in illustration of a modified construction ofcertain parte Similar letters of reference indicate correspondingpar-tsk This 'invention aims at imitating, b'utina morefperfect manner,and by automatic or mechanical means, the hand. process of felting,byusing 'a reciprocatingrolling motion, which,linvpractice,is found tobe more effective than a continuous rolling :notion .of .the-goodsbetween endless aprons. In' this connection,l i't may be observed thatthis, our improvement, is superior to the old-fashioned hand-motion inthe following, among other respects,

namely, by it the felting may be done in hotter Water, and with greaterweight or pressure, both of which contribute to produce a iirirer orharder felt, and to accomplishA the felting quicker.

The invention is more particularly designedl to felting hats orhat-bodies, and the nature of it consists in the combination of aholding-apron or aprons, with a vibratory rubbing-board or boards, insuch manner that the articleto be' felted is eifectually retained insuch position, with reference to' boards by which it isacted upon, as tosecure, inan automatic manner, an eiecztual and rapid felting of thegoods.'y Also, so that the body or bodies'being felted are, in thecourse of` such operation, worked'in and outof a hot-water bathfer itsconvtents. And furthermore, the invention consists in a peculiarcombination fof devices `for controlling the action .a duplicatearrangement of felting-boards' to eachhand, though such an arrangementmay be indefinitely' ofthe felting-board or boardsyboth as regardsrelease of the goods and adjustment of the aprons vin which they areworked.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, figs. 1 and 2, in which themachine is represented as double, that v is, constructed to allow or"felting being conducted byseparate hands on opposite sides of onemachine,.and with extended,- or the machine, it' desired, befmade for-asingle set of felting-boards- A. is the frame of the machine, which maybe constructed in any suitable manner, and made to carry adriving-shaft, B, driven by any suitable power, and operating by meansof eceentrics, a, (one toteither pair of opposite rubbers,) and rods, b,levers, C,.which serve to give a reciprocating or vibratory motion tothe upper felting-boards D, pivoted, as at c, to the level-s0.-`{Fliese-"boards are arranged ata suitable distance over an inclinedboard or boards, E, that may be described as forming the' sides of ahot-water vat or bath, F, and have attached to them,'at their forwardends, an apron or aprons, Gr, made of any suitable material, orcombination of materials, and extended so as to constitute a pocket forthe goods to be felted, and secured to the inclined boards E, or to aroller or rollers, d, ,below the same, and held in check byratchetwl1eels e and pawls f, to regulate the length of apron todiierent quantities or 'kinds of work. If desired, lthe lower boards Emay also be constructed to have a reciprocating or vibratory motion. Theboards D may have the requisite pressure 0r Weight. given tothem bymeans of uieghts, g, and be lifted, when it is necessary to release thegoods, by treadles, z,cords or straps, z', and levers, j, a'counterbalauceweigha 7c, being' preferably, attached, to lift eitherboard D when relieved of its Weights.

1n the operation of a machine constructed as represented anddescribedtl\e goods to be felted may, after being formed into a roll, befirst inserted into the pockets formed by the aprons G, and after beingreciprocated or vibrated in a rolling manner between the boards D andE,'in and out of the hot water in the bath or vat F, for a suilicientinterval of time, be subsequently acted upon in a similarmanncr, butundera heavier pressure, by wrapping them round a roller, s, forfinishing .oii`, and which provides hard surfaces to work both sides ofthe felt, and admits of the felt being finished harder and smoother. Thefeltingeboards on opposite sides ofthis double machine are, or may be,worked totally independent of each other for performing-work underdifferent stages of progress.

attend to the crozing cfa third set of goods, preliminat'ily to exposingor subjecting them again to theaetion of the felting-boards. By thetreadles h he may at pleasure, or when it is desired to take out a roll,sufficiently A single attendant may work tivo sets of felting`boards onone side of the machine, andlift or tilt the boards-D, so as to causethe yaprons or pockets Gr to deliver said roll out of the water in thevat, and so that the same may readily be caught and removed. A

As a modification of the construction herein described, thereciprocating felting-boards may be arranged to work vertically, incombination with an intermediate reciprocating board, united to them bythe aprons or pockets, arranged to pass over suitablepulleys, andcarrying the goods to be felted, substantiallyas represented by redlines in'g. 3.

What is here claimed as new and useful, and desired to be secured byLetters Patent, isl 1. The combination of the boards D and E, one orboth having a reciprocating motion, as describcd,with an apron orpocket, Gr,for holding the goods to be felted, arranged and operatingsubstantially as specified 2. The combination, with the"feltingboards D:md E, and apron G, of the take-up or adjusting-roller d, to the latter,substantially as specified.

3. In combination with the felting-boards 'and aprons G, thetreadles71,1for effecting the delivery of the goods 'from the bath, essentiallyas described.

' .WM. B. LODGE,

HIRAM PLATNER. Witnesses DANL B. BowLEs, THEO. H. BARNUM.

